What a dog
by Loopstagirl
Summary: Set directly after episode 2, Valiant. How Merlin turned the dog back to stone considering he left the book in the room with it! Now with a chapter 2!
1. Chapter 1

"So, it seems that you saved Arthur once again." Merlin couldn't help but smile at Gaius as he walked through the physician's door, the relief still coursing through him at a tremendous rate. Indeed, the plan had worked far better than he had dared to hope. The revealing of the snakes nearly hadn't been enough, but thanks to Morgana's quick reactions, Arthur was once again safe from Valiant. Permanently, this time. Coming to a stop as he entered the room, Merlin shot Gaius a quizzical look. The physician was leaning against Merlin's door, obviously trying to keep it shut.

Even as Merlin frowned at him in confusion, the door shuddered with an almighty thud. Leaning back hard, Gaius strained against the wood, using all of his strength to keep it shut.

"Now that you've finished saving the prince, I don't suppose you can get rid off your new pet, could you?" the physician asked, the effort almost too much for him to handle. He was getting too old for this, and had been battling against that demon dog all morning whilst Merlin was off saving Arthur. With a knowing grin, Merlin looked towards the table expectantly. When he saw that it was bare, his face fell.

"What?" Gaius questioned, not liking the look that was on his ward's face.

"The book is in my room," Merlin responded sheepishly, looking at the door with something close to alarm as it shuddered again.

"You mean…you mean that you have bought this beast alive, and then left the book that could turn it back to stone in the room _with _it. Are you completely mad?"

"I forgot! I was a little preoccupied with trying to save Arthur's life!" Merlin's response was slightly heated, but the warlock couldn't help it. The thought of removing the book from the room hadn't even crossed his mind when he had run out in elation that morning, finally being able to do the spell he knew would save Arthur. Now, however, he was regretting it slightly.

"Well then, I suggest you go and fetch it before anyone realises what is in there."

"Me? Go in there?" Merlin's face fell even further when he realised that Gaius was being completely serious. Swallowing nervously, he approached the door cautiously, eyeing it with trepidation as he did so. When he was level with it, Gaius stood aside, not wanting to get in the way. He had been battling against the thing all morning, it was Merlin's time. As if the dog knew that the barricade had been moved, it once again threw itself at the wood, causing it to creak ominously. Merlin turned even paler and tried to turn back, but found his way blocked by Gaius.

"You caused this mess, you can clean it up again. _Before _that beast destroys everything in the room and then breaks through the door. The wood will only hold for so long, you know."

"Fine." Merlin took a deep breath and squared his shoulders, looking like he was about to march into battle, not simply go up against a dog. Albeit a rather ferocious one that shouldn't technically be alive.

"On the count of three," he continued, rolling up his sleeves, "open the door. I'll run in grab the book, and then try and turn it back from this side of the door." Bouncing on his toes, Merlin slowly counted down.

"Three!" With a sudden spring, Gaius threw the door open and Merlin darted into the room. The moment that the warlock had entered, Gaius slammed it shut again, not wanting to let the beast out into his workshop, there were far too many breakable things lying around. Standing on the other side of the door, Gaius winced as he heard several loud thuds and a yell of pain. Instinct was telling the physician to open the door and make sure that his ward was alright, but not knowing what was going on behind the wood, he knew he had to wait for Merlin to tell him to do so. He didn't have to wait very long, as suddenly, Merlin began beating on the door frantically, yelling at Gaius to open it.

The physician complied and once more pushed the door open. As soon as there was a big enough gap, Merlin fell through, landing sprawled at Gaius' feet. Shutting the door once more, the old man bent down, noting that the warlock was shaking as he helped the boy to his feet again. There was a gash on his forearm, but his hands were empty.

"You didn't get the book?" he asked, his heart falling. That would mean that Merlin would have to go up against it again; there was no way that Gaius was going in there.

"That _thing_ is like a hell hound," Merlin panted, clutching his arm to him. He had never met an animal that was that ferocious before, and that included all of the wild ones that used to roam around the outskirts of Ealdor.

"And before you say it, no, I am NOT going back in there!"

Gaius looked at his young ward and raised an eyebrow. Before Merlin had time to comprehend what the old physician was up to, found himself pulled to his feet by a surprising strength. Gripping his uninjured arm, Gaius ignored the protests that came from the boy and forced him back through the door, holding it tightly shut. For a moment, there was a silence. Then the snarling began.

"Gaius! Gaius, please! Open the damn door! Gaius!" As Merlin's pleads became more and more persistent, Gaius relented. Letting go of the handle, he stumbled back a few paces when the door was wrenched open and Merlin came flying out, the dog hot on his heels. Spinning around, Merlin sent the door crashing shut again with a simple flash of his eyes. He turned accusingly to his mentor, who met the stare unabashed. He had managed perfectly well for all of these years on his own, who could blame him for trying to solve a problem in his own chambers? Merlin, it transpired, did not feel the same.

"Were you trying to get me killed?" he asked pointedly. His mother had always told him what a pleasant old man the physician was. She had obviously not seen every side to him.

"Nonsense," Gaius responded, even if a little too quickly. If the truth was to be told, he did feel slightly guilty in sending the warlock back into the room without preparing him for it first. But he also knew that if Merlin had his way, then the dog would simply remain behind the wooden door until the door gave out. Anything to avoid going back in the room again. And judging by the ferocious snarling that could easily be heard, the dog wasn't going to stay put for a lot longer.

"Wait," Merlin began slowly. Gaius could tell just by the expression on his face that he was thinking of a plan. Hopefully one that would enable them to make this dog once again sit in the courtyard, preferably without moving. Suddenly, a look of relief darted across his face, swiftly followed by a shout of laughter. Staring at him in disbelief, Gaius waited anxiously, not sure whether or not he was going to approve of whatever idea it was Merlin was coming up with this time. His last idea had left them with the problem in the first place.

"I've been doing this all wrong," Merlin started to pace up and down the stairs excitedly whilst Gaius looked on, bemused. "I don't need to go in there. All we need is for the book to be out _here_. So it is simple, I'll use magic to bring the book to me, then turn the dog back. That way, the door only needs to be open for a few seconds and no one needs to go in there."

Gaius smiled at the young warlock in something close to disbelief. He couldn't believe that it had taken Merlin this long to think of it. It had been one of the first thoughts that had crossed his mind, but he was so anxious to stop Merlin using magic for every small little thing that he had been reluctant to suggest it. Now that the boy had thought of it for himself, however…

"Three!" Merlin yelled, bracing himself in his position by the door. Gaius once again flung open the door, shuddering as he saw the massive bulk of the dog hurtle across the room towards the freedom that the door offered. Something, however, was quicker than the charging dog. Gliding gracefully through the air, the book floated towards them with far more speed than Gaius thought possible, especially with that much elegance. Even the dog stopped as the book flew over his head. His eyes followed the path of the magic, as if seeing something that Gaius could not. Ears cocked forward, the beast simply sat there as the book continued on its journey and soared into Merlin's outstretched hand. As soon as the book touched the skin, the dog snapped out of its trance and shot across the room as fast as its bulk could carry it, as if aware that its bid for freedom was about to vanish.

Gaius jumped as the door shut with an almighty bang. He too had been transfixed by the ease in which his ward had moved the book and had forgotten his important role of shutting the door afterwards. Turning to Merlin, he saw the triumphant smile on the boy's face before he could register anything else. The plan had succeeded so far.

"See if you can hold the door shut for a little longer," Merlin told him, already rifling through the dusty pages of the book. It became quite clear to the physician that Merlin had meant what he said about studying every word, the front half was already well leafed through, but there was also a clear dividing line that showed just where he had got up too.

"What do you think I have been doing?" he grumbled, once more taking up his position against the wood. Merlin read frantically, his eyes moving so fast that Gaius was sure that he can't have actually been seeing the words at all. The door shuddered and groaned as the dog once more resumed its attack, and to Gaius's alarm, he felt the wood begin to give.

"Hurry up, Merlin," he cried, bending his knees to try and brace the door more, but could still feel it shuddering behind him.

"I'm trying!" Merlin responded distractedly, his eyes moving faster than ever. When no spell revealed itself as the answer to their problems, he cursed under his breath. Ignoring the scolding coming from his mentor, Merlin flashed his eyes and the book fell open on a page near the back. Reading the spell illustrated, the warlock swallowed, he had never attempted anything this difficult before.

"What are you waiting for?" By now, Gaius was starting to get extremely worried. He could definitely hear the wood creaking and knew that it was now only moments before it gave out completely.

Taking a deep breath, Merlin shouted the spell out, not caring if there was anyone around the hear him or not. A flash of gold accompanied the spell, and for a moment, all fell still. Gaius carefully moved away from the door, watching it cautiously. The two of them stood watching, holding their breath. And still nothing happened.

"Whew," Gaius wiped a hand over his brow and sat down at the top of the stairs, feeling exhausted. Merlin let out a shaky laugh, looking at the book in his hand in amazement. He had actually done it.

_Thud!_

Maybe not. With nothing to brace the door, the wood finally gave out. Splintering into a thousand pieces, it shot out into the room, showering the inhabitants on the other side. With a leap, the dog made to jump through the hole he had created and enjoy the freedom that would be waiting for it the other side.

Looking back with alarm, Merlin realised in the same instant what was about to happen. With a flash of his eyes, everything stopped still. Trying the spell once more, the warlock was still not sure whether it had worked or not when time resumed itself and what was left of the door continued to rain down on him, embedding pieces of wood into his hair.

Gaius stood quickly, looking back to the hole in the doorway. The most comical sight met his eyes. Its front paws in midair, its back in a crouch, a statue was frozen in the midst of jumping through the gap. However, it was the look on the creature's face that got the old man the most. It had a mixture of surprise and outrage on its ugly snout, as if not knowing what to make of what had just happened. Starting off as a weak chuckle, the physician soon couldn't control himself, the absurdity of the situation finally getting to him. It didn't take long for Merlin to join in, and before long, both had tears of mirth running down their cheeks, pieces of wood covering the floor and a frozen dog sitting in the doorway, slightly bewildered.


	2. Chapter 2

**Was anyone expecting a second chapter to this? I wasn't... until I got thinking!  
**

**Huge thanks to MerlinStar for being an awesome beta once again! **

Carefully pushing open the door, Merlin stuck his head out of the smallest gap possible, checking the coast was clear before turning around. Walking backwards, he slowly manoeuvred himself out through the door, pulling with all of his might on the small wooden wheelbarrow. Gwen – bless her – hadn't asked what the servant wanted with a wheelbarrow, especially not in regards to how that was suddenly going to help save Arthur's life. Not that Merlin could have told her anyway, but with a glance towards where the dog was resting upon the wheels in its new comical position, Merlin was almost certain that the maid would not have believed him in any case.

"Gaius!" Calling softly back into the room, Merlin had to grin at the look on his mentor's face. Despite Gaius being partly responsible for helping Merlin turn the ferocious beast back into the statue it was supposed to be, the physician still looked slightly bewildered, his head swivelling between the shattered door and the stone creature his ward was attempting to pull away. If anyone had told him what having the young warlock come to live with him would mean, Gaius was not so sure he would have readily agreed. Stone dogs indeed...

"Gaius, I could really use a hand here."

"It's your problem, my boy," Gaius responded casually, finally rising from where he had still been sitting on the staircase, plucking a stray piece of wood from his hair as he did so. This mess was certainly going to take some cleaning up, unless, of course, he got Merlin to help. However, Gaius found that he was somewhat reluctant to ask his charge to use magic again. He had been attempting to drive into the boy how careful he had to be regarding his gifts. He knew from what Hunith had said that people had begun to notice things about Merlin, but if that happened here in Camelot, Gaius knew the consequences would be far more deadly. Whilst he had allowed it with the transformation of the dog – after all, they had to do something to rid themselves of the troublesome beast – the physician did not want it used for mere tasks such as cleaning up.

"I know," Merlin moaned, glancing between the dog and the very narrow staircase that led up to the physician's chambers. He had been so full of adrenalin about the prospect of being able to do something in order to help the prince; the warlock had barely noticed the steep stairs on his way up, instead lightening his load with an added flash of his eyes. Now, however, the thought of using magic hadn't even occurred to him, and it was with wide eyes and a look that had never failed to work on his mother after all of these years that Merlin pleaded with Gaius to help him.

"And I am sorting it out, I promise. But just how am I supposed to get it all the way down to the courtyard again, Arthur's bound to want me to do something in that time, and what am I supposed to say? He's only just rehired me!"

"What, precisely, do you expect me to do about it, Merlin? I am not helping you carry that thing."

"Oh, I don't need help with that bit." Just like that, Merlin suddenly realised that he would be able to manage the task on his own. Muttering under his breath, he ignored the pointed sigh that the physician shot his way, and allowed the magic to fill him up, flashing his eyes and thus reducing the dog to a lightless load once again. In a way, he couldn't believe that he hadn't thought of it before, he had just been so used to having people around that would be willing to help. Camelot's strange custom of everyone having to know their exact place with what they could and could not do was still taking Merlin some time to get his head around.

"Merlin," Gaius tutted, moving across the room and glancing out of the doorway himself, just to make sure it was indeed as clear as his charge believed. With an added cuff around his head for good measure, Gaius stepped out into the hallway. With a slight groan as his joints protested at the movement, Gaius walked slowly down the stairs. As soon as he reached the bottom, however, he shot a careful look around both sides, before turning back to the warlock bouncing impatiently on the balls of his feet, hands still resting lightly on the handles of the wheelbarrow.

"Come on then, boy." Needing no further encouragement, Merlin braced himself, and with a heave, shifted the wheelbarrow forward. Losing his balance, Merlin was sent stumbling backwards, just managing to balance himself on the very top of the stairs as the wheelbarrow shot forward. With the weight removed from the object resting atop of the wooden contraption, Merlin had forgotten to adjust his stance, meaning that he had pulled with the same strength he had been trying to do it at when the dog still weighed a ton.

Luckily for him, with Gaius' guidance, the warlock managed to navigate the wheelbarrow down the stairs and out into the corridor beyond. As a pair of guards walked calmly past, Gaius shot them what he hoped was a reassuring look at the somewhat startled glances they spared the pair and the dog. Merlin was standing somewhat awkwardly in front of the wheelbarrow, trying to shield it from looks precisely like that. As soon as the clunking of their boots had faded away, the pair crept forward again. Merlin couldn't help but feel as if they were trying to avoid detection at all costs. Personally, he didn't see what was so wrong about simply carting a dog around the castle, surely people needed to move the statues anyway? Gaius, however, had other ideas.

"Try and hurry, Merlin. We have to get the thing back into its original position before anyone questions that it is missing."

"Who's going to notice a missing statue?" Merlin panted through slightly gritted teeth. Whilst the stone no longer weighed anything, the wheelbarrow was not an easy thing to try and pull behind him, especially not considering it crashed into the backs of his knees every few seconds.

"You'd be surprised," Gaius muttered somewhat darkly as he ushered the young warlock through an archway, before holding him back to make sure that the coast was clear before they progressed further. Arthur had already fired Merlin once, Gaius didn't want to know what he would do if he caught his servant shifting random pieces of stone around the castle without an adequate reason.

Just as they had reached the entrance that would give them access into the courtyard below and therefore allow them to be rid of the dog once and for all, Merlin caught the sound of someone else heading directly towards them, and it was with a groan he realised that he recognised the footsteps.

"Gaius, it's Arthur!" Hissing as quietly as he could whilst making sure the aged physician caught the message first time, Merlin found himself staring around somewhat frantically, desperately trying to think of a reason to explain what they were doing. As with any time someone directly asked him something regarding his magic, the warlock found that his mind had gone completely blank. Gaius, luckily, was quicker on the mark than his ward.

"Behind here," he muttered. Wrenching back the side of a tapestry, the physician rolled his eyes skyward at the disbelieving look that Merlin was shooting him. Raising an eyebrow as Arthur's footsteps came even closer, Gaius looked pointedly between the dog and Merlin, his expression saying more than enough. With a sigh, Merlin darted forward, the material falling back over him just in time. Holding his breath, Merlin wondered how anyone could not notice the lump behind the artwork, especially as the dog was creating a rather large bulge. Glancing towards the floor, he could just about see Gaius' boots, stepping in front of him. It was clear the physician was attempting to use his body to obscure the disfiguration that had suddenly developed in the tapestry.

"Sire?" Gaius' voice had gained a new volume that Merlin had yet to hear from his new mentor, and judging by the way the old man was shifting his weight around somewhat awkwardly, the warlock knew that Gaius was desperately attempting to draw Arthur's attention to anywhere but the tapestry.

"Where's Merlin, Gaius?" Arthur could be heard asking, his voice dripping with the same touch of arrogance that Merlin always picked up on. He had to admit though, it had subsided somewhat even in their short time together, especially when the prince had apologised at the banquet for sacking Merlin. Merlin could pick up enough of the sincerity reflected in the prince's eyes to know that it had been more than that, however, that he was truly sorry for doubting that his manservant had told him anything but the truth.

"He's... he's with Gwen," Gaius invented wildly, causing his hidden ward's eyebrows to disappear into his hairline. Now _that_ certainly was an invitation for at least a month's worth of teasing from Arthur if not more.

"Come, Sire, why don't you wait back in my chambers for him if you need his assistance, I'm sure he won't be long." Squinting awkwardly out of the bottom of the tapestry, Merlin could just about make out the feet shuffling away. After a moment, all had fallen silent, and taking a deep breath, Merlin stuck his head out from behind the artwork.

Letting out an explosion of breath, he carefully pulled the statue out from its hiding place, glancing anxiously up and down the thankfully deserted hallway as he did so. Without wasting any more time, he checked that the spell keeping the statue weightless was still in place before hurrying down the corridor, pulling it along as fast as he could whilst trying to ignore the amount of times the wheelbarrow crashed into the backs of his knees and almost sent him flying in the process.

Despite the lack of luck he'd had so far with the cursed dog, Merlin managed to get the frozen beast back out into the courtyard with relatively few mishaps after Gaius had gone, although he had to admit the stone steps leading outside proved to be a bit of an issue. Thankfully, due to the feast stretching on late into the night - people celebrating not only Arthur being once more acclaimed as their champion, but also the defeat of a dangerous foe - there were very few left milling around outside. With a paranoid look around him, Merlin stole forward, glad that the night was a cloudy one and the moon was providing very little light in order to betray what the servant was up to.

Even with the statue being weightless, Merlin still found that it was somewhat challenging to get the creature off the wheelbarrow and back in its original spot. He was in luck in regards of finding its position though. The statue had obviously rested in that part of the courtyard for a considerable length of time, and even in the dim light, Merlin could make out the difference in the colour of the stone. Navigating the statue back into position, the warlock stood back with a sigh.

Just as he turned to go, hoping that his job was done, something caught Merlin's eye, making him turn back around with a frown. The statue barely looked like it was touching the floor at all. Giving it a gentle nudge with his toe, Merlin groaned as it fell over with a resonating crash. Glancing quickly around him, relief barely touched the emotion he felt as no one seemed to have noticed.

Standing the dog back up again, Merlin did one last check before letting his eyes turn gold. With a whispered incantation, he almost silently removed the spell, and as the weight returned back to the dog, the stone settled down with a slight thud in its position. Despite it being slightly over from the original place, Merlin was almost certain that no one would notice. There certainly wasn't enough of a difference in order for him to bother moving the thing again; especially not now it was weighing what it should have been. How he even managed to get it on the wheelbarrow without the spell, the warlock had no idea.

Thinking about the wheelbarrow, Merlin glanced skyward again. The moon was still only just up, and he knew that the night was still young. Grasping the handles once more, he set off at a jog towards Gwen's house, determined that he was going to return the contraption tonight and therefore rid himself of anything to do with the beast once and for all. He knew that he had found a true friend in Gwen, despite his short time here. Rather than demand to know why the warlock wanted a wheelbarrow, and how exactly that was going to help him save Arthur, Gwen had just run off to fetch one. Merlin couldn't deny that he felt bad about the whole thing. He would have done anything to be able to tell her about the magic coursing through his veins, and he didn't feel like Gwen had the capability to hate. Maybe she would understand? But Gaius' warnings were still ringing in his ears, and no matter how much he moaned about it, Merlin had begun to settle to life in Camelot already. He didn't want to do anything that could jeopardise that.

Thankfully, Gwen had both been in and too tired from serving at the feast and having to attend to her mistress to do anything other than give Merlin a weary, quizzical look that caused the warlock to involuntary shudder. It was almost as if she was searching his soul for an answer that he could not give her, and Merlin had quickly taken his leave, muttering something about needing to attend to Arthur. After all, his master had been looking for him before Gaius had managed to remove the prince, so it wasn't as if there was anything in his excuse to give him away with the latest lie.

Walking calmly back across the courtyard, nodding innocently to a guard when he shot the lanky manservant a somewhat quizzical look regarding why the boy was wondering around for no particular reason given the time of the night, Merlin truly believed he had just managed to get away with his latest use of magic.

"_Mer_lin, where have you been?" Stopping dead, Merlin found that his heart was pounding frantically in surprise as the drawling voice of Prince Arthur came out of the shadows. Stepping away from where he had been lounging, Arthur raised his eyebrows at his servant, clearly expecting an answer.

"Um... " Merlin began, wondering where he was going to take this. "I had to take something back to Gwen," he gabbled quickly, knowing that at least if Arthur checked, Gwen would unintentionally back up his story.

"All of this time?" Arthur responded, a hint of a smirk flickering across his face and causing Merlin to groan. He knew that it would be asking too much to hand Arthur a comment like that and expect to be able to get away with it.

"Did you want me for something, Sire?" the warlock asked, determined to try and change the conversation away from his flaming cheeks. She was a friend, nothing more. But there was something in Arthur's expression that was making the younger man feel decidedly uncomfortable.

"My dogs still need walking," Arthur declared, causing Merlin to raise his own eyebrows.

"At this time of night?"

"Why not?" the prince responded with a shrug, beginning to lead the way back up the steps. If he was honest, he had actually been coming to make sure that Merlin truly had believed what he had said at the feast about Arthur apologising and wanting to rehire his servant. The fact that he hadn't questioned Arthur's latest order meant the prince was certain that he had.

The pair of them had made it halfway up the steps when Arthur suddenly stopped, causing his manservant to almost crash into him in surprise.

"Now what?" Merlin muttered, rubbing his sore elbow as he picked himself up from his latest collision with the floor. He was sure that was something happening more and more since he had arrived in Camelot.

"Has that always been there?"

"Has what been where?" Following Arthur's gaze, Merlin felt the roof of his mouth go dry when he found himself looking at the dog.

"How would I know, I've only been here a week."

"I'm sure it didn't look like that," Arthur pondered quietly, ignoring Merlin's words as he tilted his head first to one side, then the other in an attempt to look at the statue better.

"Maybe you just had too much wine, Sire?" Merlin said quickly, half wincing at the berating he expected to come for his words. It showed how close to the truth he must have been, however, as Arthur merely shrugged, turning and heading back up the steps again.

"Maybe," he responded dismissively before disappearing through the big double doors. Pausing, Merlin turned and glared at the dog, almost as if daring it to try something else. Glancing over his shoulder to make sure that Arthur wasn't about to reappear, he let his eyes flash golden. Once more, a thin spiral of magic weaved its way out of the warlock. The ribbons of colour wrapped themselves gracefully around the dog, causing the statue to rise slightly off the ground as it was consumed by a soft golden light. His breathing speeding up slightly, Merlin looked quickly over his shoulder again, knowing that there could be no denying the obvious use of magic should Arthur reappear. Thankfully, the prince did no such thing, and by the time the warlock had glanced back again, the dog had once more settled back in its rightful place.

This time, there could be no telling that it had ever come alive in the first place.


End file.
